Giant Steps and Youth Music |
This is a two year project run in collaboration with Derby Jazz and the East Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra. I am the musical director of two strands of this project - Giant Steps Saturday Jazz School, and Giant Steps Summer Jazz School. Another strand in the project is the Creative Percussion Discussion. Contact details for these groups can be found at the bottom of the page. The artistic bent for the two projects is to make jazz skills and education available to young musicians. This includes existing musicians and is an enriching, and for want of a better word, “fun” experience. |
Giant Steps Jazz Saturday Jazz School takes place between 9.15am and 12.15pm and is streamed. There are two 1 and a quarter hour sessions with a 30 minute break. For each term there is a particular artistic bent related to a jazz style, be it the blues or world music. We also have a series of guests/master musicians that come up and work with the students. During the sessions I stress the importance of working on creative approaches and concepts towards improvisation. We also look into aspects of Jazz harmony and without fail listen to various examples of jazz. Every week 2 students will perform a mini presentation on one of their jazz idols. There is very little sheet music reading but this does not detract from actual learning. The sessions are designed to improve and support the extent of musical knowledge and help students find pathways through learning the jazz walk. |
Currently both projects run at: Murray Park Community School, Murray Road, Mickleover, Derby, DE3 9LL. |
For more information please contact Derby Jazz: www.derby-jazz.co.uk 01332 606320 |